Alienware 14 or M17xR4

Hi guys,

I need your help to decide on which one is better

M14 is $900 with these specs (3 months old, under warranty)
•4th Gen Intel® CoreTM i7-4700MQ processor
•Microsoft Windows® 8
•14" WLED HD Anti-Glare Display
•8GB DDR3 SDRAM, 750GB HDD
•NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M- 2GB GDDR5

M17 is $1,150
- Intel Core i7-3820QM
- 256GB Plextor M5 Pro (Primary) (this was an upgrade)
- 1 TB 5400 rpm HDD
- 32GB mSATA Cache
- 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM(4x4GB)
- GTX 675M 2GB
- 120Hz LCD refresh rate (3D capable)
- Stealth Black with Soft Touch Finish

* Warranty already expired
* Comes with the original alienware sleeve, charger and cable, 3D glass but lost the cable.

Initially, i was thinking on the m17, but the m14 price caught my attention.

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

Check on if you can renew the warranty with Dell. They normally will charge you a $50 renew fee but I would take the M17x R4. Now the question in what are you going to be using this for?

 

Games!

I have an m11 r3, but this little baby is struggling to run newer games, thus i decided to get another one. Btw, im not going to carry it with me all the time. So portability wont be an issue.

Games wise, will the m17 perform better than the m14?

 

I think they are near the same in GPU performance but with the M17x R4 you can upgrade that gpu to a 680m or 780m down the road.

 

I see. So performance wise, both are on par. How bout the cpu? Does it even matter?

 

Ill tell you right now, I just went through this extended warranty wise since I didn't buy at POS (Point of Sale). The prices they charge are VERY high, I'm talking ~$700 to $1500 depending on if you want Accidental Care and all that. If you're within 90 days of purchase, you may get lucky with a rep and get the POS pricing. I kept calling back until I found someone that would price it that way for me. Good luck, but I would go with the M14 based on what you listed.

 

Just to add my 5c...

The 17" 120hz display and the 3D are fantastic and would make it a no-brainer for me. My only concern is that the 675m is a very unreliable card and I haven't seen one last much more than two years - it might well have already had a replacement? If you can wrangle a warranty (will depend on how long it has expired) then go for that in the price comparison

Otherwise, a 680m is a stock option so it's plug-n-play to put one of those in - not even a modified driver needed

 

If those are your only two choices, definitely go with the larger and more expensive and better quality M17xR4. If you care about how long you can run on battery, find a different one without a 120Hz screen as the Intel HD graphics are disabled. You can't game on battery worth a crap on any laptop, so if you plan to stay plugged in most of the time this might not matter at all... just be aware of what you'll be getting with the 120Hz screen.

The GPU on the 14 cannot be upgraded. It's integrated on the motherboard (BGA versus PCIe slot). Stay away from any "gaming machine" (not just the Alienware 14) that doesn't use standard generic MXM modules. You might save a few bucks today buying something like that, but you'll pay for it in the long run... Also avoid any laptop with a BGA CPU versus socket, because they also cannot be upgraded. This part does not apply to the Alienware 14, as it does have a socket-mounted CPU.

 

i see, so most here says the m17. If ever i decide to upgrade the gpu, is it easy?

The 2 things i considered about the m14 is because it's cheaper and under warranty. But if the benefit of the m17 outweighs it, then i will go for the m17.

@Mickey
You mentioned that the 675m doesnt last for more than 2 years, that scares me. Have you had yours replaced?

 

If the M17xR4 hasn't been out of warranty for too long the seller will assist you in getting the warranty extended and then transfer the service tag into your name.

 

Having owning both, I would go with the M17x R4 with the plans on maybe upgrading the GPU as suggested.

 

I am on my second replacement 675m and this machine was a free replacement from dell for my 580m R3 that also failed twice (the 675m is exactly the same card as a 580m just rebadged for a new line up).

You might wonder what I am doing to them but it really is just flat out card breakdown! I've seen so many here on NBR I couldn't guess at the numbers - it could be a negotiating point? See: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/721878-nvidia-320-18-driver-warning.html for some of the trigger cause. The overvolt was very small and NV have now fixed it but with such a borderline card (IMO) it doesn't take much to push it too far.

There must also be a whole bunch of people that never have an issue but they are not posting here of course .

On the plus side it is very easy to replace the GPU from a disassembly perspective, seven screws from start to finish and it's out. Only padding and pasting the heatsink requires some research to get it right.

Good luck

 

I asked the seller regarding warranty. Seems like i need to pay $400. To extend warranty.

Guys on a side note, my friend offered to sell me his asus g750j with the 770m for 1000$. If ever i wouldn't push thru with the no warranty m17, which one is a good buy between the m14 r4 and asus g750?

I will contacy dell again and i quire about the warranty extension.

 

Can the asus g750 upgrade to 780 like the m17?

 

Maybe so, but Asus and MSI laptops are not nearly as upgrade friendly as Alienware and Clevo laptops are. If it uses MXM modules then it might take an upgrade, but Asus and MSI sometimes use non-standard MXM modules that are proprietary. I would be very careful and do some research before settling on an Asus or MSI if you are considering doing a GPU upgrade. If you are planning a GPU upgrade at any point, my best advice would be to save yourself a hassle and avoid anything other than Alienware or Clevo. Some laptops develop a variety of compatibility issues with non-standard hardware configuration, and some have a BIOS that complicates things. With Alienware and Clevo that is typically not a huge problem unless you are trying to upgrade a very old system with components that are several generations newer. Even then it will usually work for an old Alienware or Clevo, but you may have some glitches like display brightness control or HDMI not working.

Also check their warranty. I don't know what their policy is and you might void the warranty by simply opening the chassis. Some computer makers are like that. Dell/Alienware is not one of them.

 

Ok will keep that in mind. My 1st priority would be the m17. But 2nd option is either the m14 or g750.

If you have to choose between the m14 and g750, which would it be? Is the 765m and 770m almost the same performance wise? Both are still under warranty.

 

Tough question... I like their desktop parts and monitors, but I am not particularly impressed with Asus laptops. I have a few friends that have had terrible experiences with warranty service on Asus laptops as well.

That said, I am not impressed by the Alienware 14 on the basis that is has a BGA (integrated on motherboard) GPU. While I consider it a good quality product and built well, the way it is designed makes upgrading to a GPU more powerful than what Alienware offers as a standard configuration option virtually impossible. If the G750 has a standard MXM module I would probably choose that option exclusively for the chance of an opportunity to upgrade the GPU, but it would be against my better judgment and it would be with a great deal of reservation. Neither of these machines are a great option in my mind... like choosing the lesser of two evils where upgrades are concerned.

770M is measurably better than 765M. You can compare their specs on the NVIDIA web page and compare benchmark scores on the Futuremark web site.

NVIDIA Mobile GPU Specs

GTX 770 Specs

GTX 765M Specs

 

Yeah but you will need to get your hands dirty if you want to go down the 780m path

Yeah the 675 I am not too hot about, however the upgrade ability option is there, and I would agree with brother fox on the 14, can you consider another brand of laptop (Razer gigabyte etc.)

 

Is the price negotiable on the m17x? I'd choose the m17x over the AW14 any day.

The 680m would be a perfect upgrade and retain 3D, but that would make the total cost around $1,700, depending how much you get the 680m for.

The 675M is a re-badge of a 580m, so a 680m would be 2x faster than a 675m.


Forgot to mention, upgrading a GPU on a m17xR4 is a breeze. 15 minutes max. Once the bottom cover is removed the GPU and CPU are right there.

 

As the others have stated, and even though I own a 14, I'd go with the 17 because of the MXM gpu that can be upgraded easily. Don't get me wrong, the 14 is a great little machine but having it's hands tied behind it's back is a bit aof a ball ache in the graphics card department. I only got mine because it was too good a price to turn down and as of right now, I did not require Uber-performance from my machine and I am happy (ish) getting by with a GTX765m. If I had found a good deal on a 17, that would have been my machine of choice, alas I did not. I just needed something quickly that would perform better than the Ultrabook I had that could not be gamed on to any great extent. Am I happy with the 14? - yup. Would I like a more powerful machine in the gpu department? - you betcha.....

As for GTX765m vs GTX770m, although the 770m is obviously superior, I'm left wondering how much better, or noticeable, it would be in real world gaming. According to Notebookcheck, when you look at the tested games and framerates, there is not too much between them. Both were tested on the same platform (Schenker W503 with the same CPU and ram etc) so it should be a fair reflection of the difference between the two in gaming.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-765M.92907.0.html (GTX765m) vs. http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-770M.88995.0.html GTX770m

For sure, with the 14 you cannot upgrade any further.....with the Asus, it seems a 780m is possible ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231088) but as Mr. Fox mentioned:

If you really want a good machine, with the possibility to upgrade it without too much hassle, I'd keep looking for a 17 - even if you choose not to buy the one you were looking at. I'd be tempted to try and find one with some warranty left on it....the longer the better, because aftermarket warranty upgrades are a LOT more expensive to buy than machines configured with a long warranty in the first place. I'd also be slightly worried that the warranty has already expired and therefore, there may be no guarantee that Dell would extend it anyway - I'd check it (and the price) out first before you decide...if you can upgrade the warranty within your budget, the 17 in your first post is a good machine that you can then upgrade the GPU at your leisure should you choose to do so.

 

Here is a "down and dirty" comparison of top 3DMark11 scores 765M versus 770M. As you can see, 770M has a distinct performance advantage over 765M. (11.4K versus 10.6K GPU scores in SLI is a significant difference between mid-range performance video cards.)

 

True. I agree the 770m is going to be the better choice of card. Based on those figures, it's around 8% faster (or better) than a 765m. Of course, the limitation of 765m in the 14 is that it's curtains for upgrading it further until Dell refresh it with a new GPU. Even then, it would be a ball ache to upgrade because of the motherboard situation.

I agree, but some folk simply don't, can't or won't want to splurge big bucks on an SLI behemoth rig like an 18 or M18x R2. The cheapest 17 that I've seen on Fleabay (UK, but US seller) with a 770m is rolling in at around $1400: Alienware 17 17.3" 3GB NVIDIA GTX 770M i7-4700MQ 8GB 750GB Windows 7 Laptop | eBay (note, I'm not endorsing this listing in any way) and if the OP's budget is $1000 or so, he's gonna be hard pressed to find a 17 with a 770m for that kinda price.

Again, not endorsing any listings, but this 17 for $1150 is the same amount in the opening post for the older 17 he was looking at: DELL ALIENWARE 17 INTEL CORE â„¢ I7-4700MQ CPU @ 2.4GHZ 8GB 750GB 17" WINDOWS 7 | eBay is closer to the budget, has a 765m which might do the OP for the time being until he could upgrade it to an even better gpu, perhaps 780m or 880m. Also, this one has a good balance of warranty - according to the listing.

Just a thought...

 

Yup, that all makes sense. A new Alienware 14 is a well built machine that games well. The only real drawback is not having an MXM module for upgrades. If you want something smaller and less expensive to play games on it's not a bad choice at all.

 

Don't get me wrong....I totally agree with you with pretty much everything you've said here. Budget was the only factor I was trying to include. If I had had a bit more "disposable" at the time of my purchase, I'd have gone for something better, but knowing the limitations, as I did, I went into my purchase "eyes wide open" knowing those limitations and being somewhat happy with them, for the time being. I totally agree that the only real drawback of a 14 is lack of MXM.......hope they fix that at some point, eh?

 

I agree with you, too. There's certainly a place for that and living within your means is wise. Not doing that is always a recipe for trouble.

 

I bought the m17. Turns out theres some problem with the sound. No souns comes out. Im not really sure why, good thing i tested when i met the seller. I ended up getting the asus g750, as i prefer the 17" screen. Im still on the lookout for a good m17/18 deal though.

 

If you mean you purchased the M17xR4 and the sound is not working, that's a well documented problem with Soundblaster Recon3Di that will most likely never be fixed because Creative Technology does not stand behind their products. The M18xR2 and other brands of laptops with that audio chipset have the same problem. For most folks it is an inconvenience because putting the laptop to sleep and waking it (not rebooting, but actual sleep) makes the chip start working again. This happens to me about 1 or 2 times per month.

For more information, see this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ask-questions-here-m18x-r2-m17x-r4-audio.html

 

jesus, where do you get that cheap model?

 

Wow ! I didn't know about this issue. I have had that chipset on my M17xR4 for over a year now with no issue whatsoever. In fact it delivers a better sound output than the Realtek chipset in my Alienware 18 when connected to an external audio source. (although the AW18 speakers are of a better quality than the ones on the M17xR4 not to mention in has an extra subwoofer)

I also don't like the cheap Dolby® software layer on the Realtek chipset, it seems like with the default driver, the sound is deteriorated on purpose when the Dolby crappola is disabled (in fact it starts sounding a lot better with the default Microsoft drivers while the Dolby software isn't even installed), so they make the whole thing sound like crap on the Realtek driver while Dolby is disabled just to give the illusion that the Dolby software does anything to improve the sound (other than adding virtual surround and an equalizer).

I just hope this won't make the AW18 sound like crap whenever I run Linux on top of it (I haven't tested this yet).

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